Hold Our Breath
by miaxnder
Summary: Onodera Ritsu is an Omega looking to forget the Alpha from his past. Yokozawa Takafumi is a Beta who's heart lies shattered. Aikawa Eri is an Alpha who's tired of being alone. In a place where everyone can find their mate, what happens when you can't?


Ritsu simply focused on the wall in front of him.

He stared and thought of bunnies with wings and strawberries and books and anything that wasn't the needle in his arm. After what felt like forever, the nurse tapped him on the shoulder and told him she was done. Rolling down his sleeve, he listened to what she had to say.

"Ok, so they'll bring you back here during your first heat, and we'll just take a little more blood to check your average hormone levels and type, so that we can check up on how you're doing, and so that we can accurately put a profile together for you. After that, you'll only come here periodically for check-ups and the like. Now, if you follow Nanami-san, she'll take you to the briefing room. Good luck!"

Ritsu stood and followed the new arrival. As they walked, he noticed that the lower levels of the buildings were quite plain and clinical, and watched as they morphed and transformed into somewhere a lot homier and more comforting.

"Okay then," she quickly glanced at her clipboard, "Onodera-san. There's not much to tell you, as most things will be explained in there." She stopped outside a door. "But just so you're prepared, you'll meet your carers, and they'll check up on your info, then a member of senior leadership will come, and they'll give you the ground rules. Your carers will show you to your rooms, and you'll be given a day or two to settle before they'll give you the brief on what happens when you go into heat, with and without a mate, explain how mating works here and how and when you'll get to interact with Alphas." Ritsu simply nodded and she gave him a sympathetic smile. "You'll be fine." Then she opened the door, waited for him to walk in, handed his clipboard to the woman standing inside and then left.

The woman who now held his details beckoned for him to follow her to a seat near the front of the room. It looked almost like a university lecture hall, and looking out at all the seating Ritsu only saw two other Omegas. As he sat down, the woman offered her hand out to him, he shook it, and then she left him to watch in apprehension as she skimmed through his notes.

"Okay then, Onodera-san?" He nodded. "I'm Tachibana Ayano, and I'm just here to look after you. So, feel free to ask me any questions at any time. When you get your bracelet," she held up her wrist to show him the white band, he noticed the screen held a reminder for this very meeting, "you'll be able to contact me through there. For now, you can ask for me at your floor's reception."

Ritsu took a moment to take that in. He didn't understand everything yet, but he knew he would eventually. He looked back at her and nodded yet again.

"You can talk to me you know, I won't bite. So first we have to run through some of this info. Don't worry, it's not all going to be personal stuff." She looked back down at the sheets. "Okay, so first things first, I'm obliged to inform you that the majority of the staff here are of the Beta dynamic, including myself, so please know that you can trust us." That set Ritsu slightly on edge, what was she going to ask him? Noticing him tense, she simply chuckled. "Don't worry, it's routine. So, you've already told us most of the key stuff, upcoming heat dates, gland locations, nesting habits…" She went down the questions, noting the answers. "All I really need is the ages you presented at and during your first heat."

"Um, I was 12 when I presented." She nodded and took a pen out of her breast pocket. As she wrote the number down, she reassured him.

"Presenting early is fine, it's the heats that are really the problem. Don't worry about it. Speaking of heats, do you remember how old you were during your first?"

"14." She looked up at him in disbelief. Sensing his shame, she knew that he wasn't lying, and sent him the most sympathetic look she could.

"That is young. I'm really sorry, but you know what I have to ask you now." She turned over the sheet. "Have you ever formed a temporary bond during one of your heats?"

"Once, ten years ago." She wrote everything down, as a new man walked in.

"Okay, that's it! We just have to listen to this and then you can go to your room to process." Ritsu took this opportunity to glance around, and he noted that more people had entered the room now.

"Hello and welcome. I know you've had a lot of information given to you already today, so this briefing is going to be split into two parts. So for now, I'm only going to give you the basic rules."

As he opened his mouth to continue, a young man tapped him on the shoulder and whispered something to him. His voice was quiet, but Ritsu clearly heard the other's response.

"Bring him in, he'll calm down eventually." The younger nodded and left to open the door. Suddenly a burst of movement could be sensed in the room, and Ritsu turned to look. A boy was being brought in, clearly struggling against the two men holding him. A woman, Ritsu assumed she was his carer, was talking to him in a rushed, low voice. Looking to Ayano in shock, she simply smiled at him.

"He's probably scared of needles. This is more common than you think. Omegas like yourself can get extremely defensive when scared, which I'm sure you know." After the boy was seated and the movement calmed down, the speaker continued.

"As I was saying, there are a few key rules I have to tell you. First, please do not remove your info-bracelet. I know you don't have one yet, but you will be given one when your profiling is complete." He held up his wrist, bearing the same band Ayano had been. "Second, please adhere to our curfews. Schedules can be found at intervals down dorm halls." He coughed slightly and looked at the palm of his hand. "Next, no Alpha-Omega interactions within personal rooms. If any Omega is caught in their room with an Alpha, and vice-versa, there will be consequences. Also, all mates must be registered. Mating privileges will be explained more on Thursday." His gaze darted around the rooms to the carers and staff. "And I think that's about it until Thursday's briefing…Okay! I know you've taken in a lot of information, so your carers will now take you to your rooms. Please note, these ladies will be checking in on you frequently until your bracelets are fully programmed. Thank you!"

He left the room, and Ayano, as well as several other carers, stood. She handed his clipboard off to a young man in exchange for a thin plastic card with a number on it. She began walking and Ritsu followed her.

"Normally, rooms can be accessed with your info-bracelet, so until yours is fully programmed after your first heat, you have to use one of these."

"What happens if we have our first heat then, without the bracelet?" Ritsu asked as she led him down a hall.

"Send your room mate to the floor's reception." She pointed down a corridor leading off the main hall where a bright room with a reception desk was. "Come and have a quick look." She led him down the corridor, and the reception staff waved at them. "They'll contact me so we can get you to the infirmary for your blood tests and then to the heat rooms so that you can nest in peace."

They turned back and Ritsu followed her in silence until they reached a door with the label "Ω104". Looking to the black box-like attachment to the right of the door, she turned to him.

"Looks like your roommate is already here, which is surprising." She pointed to two small lines of light, one red and one green. She pushed the card into the slot and the red light turned green, she pushed own the door with her hip and held her arm out, gesturing inside the room. After he entered, she handed him the card, smiled and left. "See you in the morning."

Ritsu's stuff was already set besides the left bed, so he went over and laid down. Hearing the shower running, he assumed his roommate was in there and that he'd have to wait, so he reached into his bag and pulled out his book. Getting lost in the pages, he didn't realise the shower had stopped running until he heard a voice tell him that the shower was free.

Looking up, Ritsu instantly recognised him as the boy from before. Standing up, he extended a hand to his roommate, hoping to erase the image of him struggling against the two men.

"Onodera Ritsu." The boy looked at Ritsu's hand before continuing to dry his hair.

"Takatsuki Shinobu." Ritsu hadn't realised he had been staring at the boy until he turned around and snapped, "Are you getting in the shower or what?"

By the time he got out, Shinobu was fast asleep.

* * *

Hatori continued to twist at the band around his wrist as he waited for the girl to finish whatever she was doing.

"Hatori-san, I'm afraid as a criminal case you are required to wear the info-bracelet even without a full hormone profile." He lowered his hand as she spoke. "It will make us immediately aware should you go into a rut without a mate, and will allow us to move you to a room especially designed to keep out scents." Hatori simply nodded. Sensing the atmosphere, she quickly tried to remedy the situation. "It will also notify senior leadership when you do mate, and start the process of wiping your name from the offender's register." Her words only caused the alpha to tense more, and, aware of her failure, she opened the door on two male betas. He sent a questioning glance to the girl and she quickly explained to him. "These two will be present whenever you visit other dynamics. I assure you that it is just a safety precaution. Though for now, they will show you to your room."

Hatori thanked the girl and followed the two men, his head hung in shame. He himself had asked to be put on the sex-offender's register, but it was his parents' idea to send him here. Finding a permanent mate was the quickest way to remove yourself from the list, and Hatori hated it. There was only one person he wanted, and that's what got him here in the first place.

"We're here. Use your bracelet to unlock the door. Your roommate has been given the same briefing you have, and you will both be required to attend the one on Thursday." Then they left him.

Holding his bracelet up to the sensor, and watching the second light turn green, Hatori wondered exactly what would happen when his rut appeared. Shaking the thought aside, he pushed open the door to the sight of his roommate lying on the right bed, reading.

Hearing the door slam, and sensing a new Alpha's presence, the raven-haired man looked up. Putting his book down, he stood and approached Hatori, extending his hand.

"Takano Masamune." Hatori entrusted his hand to Takano's grip.

"Hatori Yoshiyuki." They studied each other's faces for a few silent moments, before Takano gestured his head to the left bed, and all Hatori's belongings. Sitting on the bed, he began to search for his own book.

"Why are you wearing your bracelet? I thought they needed hormones from your rut to fully program it or whatever…Wait, don't tell me you—"

"Nothing like that!" Hatori immediately regretted his embarrassed interjection, as it dawned on him he now had no idea what to say to Takano's prying. "I…just asked for it early…"

"If you say so." He picked up his book and opened it as he lay back on his bed. "Just know that I don't believe you."

Unable to find his own book, Hatori lay back on the bed and looked at the incriminating band on his wrist. Catching sight of the time, he changed, turned off the main light with a nod from Takano (who turned on the lamp at his bedside) and lay on his side.

Drifting off to sleep, he dreamed of blue eyes and cries of pain.

* * *

Kaoruko had always thought being a Beta sucked.

Granted, it did have its perks and people generally left you alone, but she was now faced with the prospect of watching a room full of men with everything to prove squabbling constantly.

Being a Beta sucked.

She knew that she would be expected to find a mate here, but she seriously had her doubts there was any hope to be found in the glares one boy sent another.

"Maybe we should try talking, you know, get to know each other? Because you never know you two may become mates one day!"

Kaoruko respected his attempt at peace-making, but it only served to set them off more.

"He's right. We don't know who in this room we could end up mating, and them fighting like alpha wannabes is quite inappropriate." Kaoruko glared at her cousin's half-brother. Their parents had once tried to get the two to mate, and she had quite ardently rebelled. The plan didn't go through, but she had an uncanny talent for holding a grudge.

"I think all hope is lost for me if I'm forced to mate someone in this room. I can't wait until we get Alpha interaction."

"According to this," he waved a brochure at her, "you could be waiting a very long time." He threw it down on a coffee table beside them.

"Besides," he took his glasses off momentarily to clean them before he turned to her. "I was certain that omegas were more your type. Unless, of course, you mean Akihiko?"

She snorted. "I'd rather mate with him than one of these idiots." Gesturing around the room, she sighed and looked down. "But you're right, I've always been a sucker for the cute ones."

"Perhaps we have that one thing in common." Kaoruko turned to look at him in momentary shock. Seeing his gaze directed elsewhere, she followed it.

"Huh, never would have pegged him as your type." She turned her nose up in slight disgust at the boy who was now sat with his arms crossed, glaring pointedly at the guy opposite.

"Me neither." Looking at his face in that moment, and hearing the things they told each other, Kaoruko felt that maybe they did have something in common. Maybe she could learn to not hate Haruhiko. Maybe they could be friends.

"Well then…" She sat up straight and put a hand on the man's shoulder, giving him an encouraging tap. "Go get 'im tiger."

"Kaoruko you are out of your damn mind."

"What? At least go talk to him so can sulk in peace!" Haruhiko's expression was disapproving but he decided to voice his agreement with the peace-keeper.

"So, why don't we all start by just introducing ourselves?" The man spoke and beckoned everyone round. Haruhiko sat next to the boy who'd caught his eye and Kaoruko smiled at the two.

It took her a second to register the boy to her right was the other one who'd been arguing. She altered her expression to one of disapproval before he turned to her.

"Sumi. Keiichi." He held out his hand. She ignored it. After a couple of seconds, he retracted it with a shrug and joined in with the main conversation that had broken out.

Being a Beta sucked.


End file.
